NIAAA Moves to Fishers Lane

First Phase of Transition to New Buildings

On January 16, 2004, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
(NIAAA) relocated its administrative and extramural offices to 5635 Fishers
Lane in Rockville, Maryland. The newly constructed building features expanded
conference space along with improved information technology and communications
capacities. The NIAAA offices comprise the entire second and third floors of
the five–story facility.

NIAAA Director T.K. Li, M.D. said, “The new building is a welcome upgrade
for our staff and a first step toward integrating most of our intramural and
extramural programs in one location.” Later this year, NIAAA’s intramural
researchers will move next door into 5625 Fishers Lane. Dr. Li said, “Our
new location will improve communications across our intramural and extramural
divisions and help us to fulfill NIAAA’s multidisciplinary mission.”

A Smooth Transition

“There are many bonuses to our new location,” said Stephen Long,
NIAAA’s Executive Officer, who spearheaded negotiations during the building’s
construction. “The site is part of an important zone of new development
around the Twinbrook Metro, which is nearby. A parking garage is conveniently
located adjacent to our building, and there are plans for bringing restaurants,
a gym, and other added features right into the building complex,” he said.

A view of NIAAA’s new home at 5635 Fishers
Lane in Rockville, Maryland. To the right is the corner of 5625 Fishers
Lane, the building that will house the NIAAA intramural program.

Mr. Long praised the NIAAA staff’s cooperation for making the move go
as smoothly as possible. “Special thanks go to Dave Orchard and all the
staff who helped, especially the administrative and IT staff for the efficient
way they handled the logistics of the relocation process,” said Mr. Long.

Alcohol Screening Day Is Approaching

Around the country, sites are preparing for National Alcohol Screening Day
(NASD), scheduled for April 8, 2004. The program is conducted by the National
Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), the Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and Screening for Mental Health, Inc.
This year nearly 40 other organizations will serve as NASD sponsors, including
the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the American Medical
Association (AMA), and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

The theme of NASD is “Alcohol and your health: Where do you
draw the line?” The intent is to raise public awareness
about alcohol’s effects on general health by providing a variety of educational
materials and the opportunity to meet with a health care professional. NASD
also educates people about the consequences of at–risk drinking and seeks
to identify people who may be at particular risk for problems with alcohol.

A wide variety of colleges, hospitals, businesses, military bases, and Government
agencies host NASD events. They arrange screening sites in campus centers, shopping
malls, and other community–based venues. At the sites, participants may
receive a written screening questionnaire and the opportunity to meet with a
health professional. Referrals for further evaluation and/or treatment are provided
when appropriate.

Last year, 62,015 people were screened at 3,727 sites. Between 20 to 25 percent
of those screened scored above 8 on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification
Test—an indication that they needed either advice to cut back on their
drinking or referral for further assessment and/or treatment.

In 2003, NASD sites screened more minority participants than ever before. Sponsors
are again extending their outreach efforts to include American Indian, Asian,
Hispanic/Latino, and African American populations.

Host a Screening Site

Health care and mental health professionals, treatment providers, and counselors
are encouraged to partner with employers, college administrators, and community
leaders to conduct screening during this year’s event. Support can be
given in three ways:

contributing staff such as physicians, nurses, psychologists, and social
workers, who also will be eligible for continuing education credits;

providing locations for the event;

advertising the program to alert the local community to the availability,
location, date, and time of this important event.

In previous years, successful sites have launched campaigns emphasizing that
NASD offers free, evidence–based, and practical information on alcohol’s
effects and its impact on health, work or school performance, and personal relationships.
Equally important is the careful selection of the screening site. These often
include doctor’s offices, hospital lobbies, college campuses, military
bases, and other high–traffic areas.

Each screening site receives a customized information kit with all the materials
necessary to host a screening day event, including a step–by–step
guide; tips from previous years’ successful sites; suggestions for recruiting
special populations; promotional materials, such as sample news releases, public
service announcements, and Op–Ed pieces; educational brochures, pamphlets,
posters, and flyers for the public; and copies of the NASD screening form.

In addition to the on–site screening program, Screening for Mental Health,
Inc., offers an interactive workplace alcohol–screening program for employers,
featuring educational and promotional materials that complement the NASD event.

Register Today

It’s still possible to register to host a screening day site. Contact
the NASD office at 800/253–7658 or nasd@mentalhealthscreening.org for
help in planning and promoting a screening site in your community. Register
by March 29, 2004, to guarantee delivery of your kit(s) by
April 8.

Personnel News

Appointments

Dr. Ralph Hingson

Ralph W. Hingson, Sc.D., M.P.H., recently was named director
of NIAAA’s Division of Epidemiology and Prevention Research. Dr. Hingson
was a key contributor to NIAAA’s landmark report, A Call to Action:
Changing the Culture of Drinking at U.S. Colleges. An expert on drunk driving
legislation, Dr. Hingson’s research helped stimulate passage of Federal
legislation that provided incentives for States to make it illegal for drivers
under age 21 to drive after any drinking.

Dr. Hingson is the recipient of numerous distinguished awards, including the
2001 Innovators Combating Substance Abuse Award from the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation and the 2002 Widmark Award, the highest award bestowed by the International
Council on Alcohol Drugs and Traffic Safety. In 2003, Mothers Against Drunk
Driving (MADD) instituted the Ralph W. Hingson Research in Practice Annual Presidential
Award, with Dr. Hingson as its first recipient.

Nanwei Cao, Ph.D., joined the Strategic Research Planning
Branch in the Office of Scientific Affairs. Dr. Cao will manage the SMART database,
which maintains scientific coding for disease reporting. She has a master’s
degree in computer and information science and a doctorate in theoretical physics,
both from City University of New York. Previously, Dr. Cao worked for the National
Institutes of Health Center for Information Technology.

Alexei Yeliseev, Ph.D., was appointed as a staff scientist
in the Section of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance in NIAAA’s Intramural Laboratory
of Membrane Biochemistry and Biophysics. His work will focus on the expression,
purification, and reconstitution of G–protein–coupled membrane receptors
for NMR structural studies.

NIAAA Council Approves Definition of Binge Drinking

On February 5, 2004, the NIAAA National Advisory Council approved the following
definition/statement:

A "binge" is a pattern of drinking alcohol that brings blood alcohol concentration
(BAC) to 0.08 gram percent or above. For the typical adult, this pattern corresponds
to consuming 5 or more drinks (male), or 4 or more drinks (female), in about
2 hours. Binge drinking is clearly dangerous for the drinker and for society.

In the above definition, a "drink" refers to half an ounce of alcohol (e.g.,
one 12–oz. beer, one 5–oz. glass of wine, or one1.5–oz.
shot of distilled spirits).

Binge drinking is distinct from "risky" drinking (reaching a peak BAC between
.05 gram percent and .08 gram percent) and a "bender" (2 or more days of
sustained heavy drinking).

For some individuals (e.g., older people or people taking other
drugs or certain medications), the number of drinks needed to reach a binge–level
BAC is lower than for the "typical adult."

People with risk factors for the development of alcoholism have increased
risk with any level of alcohol consumption, even that below a "risky" level.

For pregnant women, any drinking presents risk to the fetus.

Drinking by persons under the age of 21 is illegal.

The Council's decision was based on a recommendation from a task force chaired
by NIAAA Associate Director Dr. Mark Goldman. "The task force was charged with
developing a recommended definition of binge drinking for use in the field's
future research efforts," said Dr. Lorraine Gunzerath, acting chief, Strategic
Research Planning Branch in NIAAA's Office of Scientific Affairs, who spearheaded
the task force report. Task force members included Drs. Raul Caetano, Sandra
Brown, Kenneth Hoffman, George Koob, Sean O'Connor, and Kenneth Sher. The group
held a workshop November 4–5, 2003, to determine the factors that define
heavy episodic drinking or distinguish it from other patterns of alcohol use
and abuse, including cut–off points, amounts, or timeframes; predictive
factors; trajectories; and outcomes. Over the 2–day workshop, the task
force heard invited presentations in the areas of neurobiology, physiology,
psychology, sociocultural contexts, and measurement issues. After reviewing
the presented material, the members reconvened on February 4, 2004, to produce
a consensus definition, and submitted their recommendation to the full Council
for approval.

New Publications

Assessing Alcohol Problems

This volume is a must for clinicians and researchers concerned with assessing
patients’ alcohol problems using psychometric instruments. Subject
matter experts review domains of assessment—different stages of
treatment such as screening, diagnosis, planning, treatment, and outcome—that
require different types of instruments, and they describe issues relevant
to each area. An update of the 1996 Assessing Alcohol Problems: A
Guide for Clinicians and Researchers, this second edition presents
in one convenient location, samples of more than 70 assessment instruments,
along with fact sheets, an at–a–glance “Quick Reference
Instrument Guide,” and tables within each chapter comparing instruments
used in each domain of treatment. Assessing Alcohol Problems
is loose–leaf bound to make page replacement and updating easier.

Two New Publications in Spanish

Both publications are available in quantities to health care providers
for distribution to patients.

Antecedentes de alcoholismo en la familia—¿Está
usted a riesgo?

The Spanish–language version of A Family History of Alcoholism—Are
You at Risk? provides easy–to–read facts along with sources
of more information for anyone who is concerned about a family history
of alcoholism.

Reacciones peligrosas: Mezclando bebidas alcohólicas
con medicamentos

The Spanish–language version of Harmful Interactions: Mixing
Alcohol with Medicines highlights the risks of using alcohol while
taking medications or herbal preparations and lists common medicines and
their possible reactions with alcohol.

TO ORDER:

Write to National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Publications
Distribution Center, P.O. Box 10686, Rockville, MD 20849–0686. These
publications and other materials are also available online at http://www.niaaa.nih.gov,
or by fax at 703/312–5230.

NIAAA Practitioner's Guide Wins Technical Communicators'
Award

NIAAA’s Helping Patients With Alcohol Problems: A Health Practitioner’s
Guide recently won an award for its clarity and usability from the Washington,
D.C. chapter of the Society for Technical Communication (STC). The international
society, which includes 25,000 professional writers, editors, illustrators,
and designers, is dedicated to advancing the arts and sciences of technical
communication.

The Washington, D.C. competition results were announced on February 7, 2004.
The judges ranked the Guide in its “Distinguished” category,
placing it in the top 5 out of 67 entries. The score qualifies the Guide
to advance to the Society’s international competition.

NIAAA was in very good company— among the other top 5 competitors was
the Space Shuttle Columbia Accident Investigation Board, whose report, prepared
by more than 100 staff, received the “best in show” prize.

The high marks for NIAAA’s Guide are richly deserved, considering
the extensive work that went into the document prior to its release last year.
With direction from an expert panel of grantees, NIAAA staff incorporated the
latest research–based content within an easy–to–navigate graphic
design. The publication was further refined through two stages of interviews
with primary care practitioners from a variety of practice settings.

The hard work paid off in the eyes of the STC competition judges. Here are
some of their comments about the NIAAA Guide:

“Everything about this publication works effectively to reinforce
the twin messages that healthcare practitioners should screen patients for
alcohol problems and how to do so. The organization and content are very
strong, and the visual elements, especially the use of color, reinforce
the message.”

“The structure of the brochure adds to its usability and the likelihood
that it will be used as intended rather than simply being shelved or thrown
away.”

“The information is crisp and easy to read—should enable busy
audiences to grasp and use the information quickly.”

The lively, bold headings make it easy to navigate…there’s
nothing stodgy about this brochure.”

Designed by NIAAA’s Dr. Dennis Twombly, this unique exhibit for students
explains how alcohol–induced changes in neuronal activity translate into
altered brain communication, motor performance, sensory perception, cognition,
and ultimately, dependence. Drs. Roger Sorensen and Vishnu Purohit from NIAAA
will present exhibits on alcohol–related tissue damage and risks of adolescent
binge drinking. Brain Awareness Week is organized by the Dana Alliance for Brain
Initiatives to advance public awareness about the progress, promise, and benefits
of brain research. For more information visit [link opens
in new window] www.dana.org/brainweek/.
NIAAA also will feature the Drunken Brain Exhibit on April 24 at the National
Institutes of Health “Share the Health” Expo ([link
opens in new window] http://sharethehealth.od.nih.gov/index.asp).

NIAAA is a sponsor of this annual drug and alcohol prevention conference expected
to draw more than 3,000 youth and adults. The PRIDE conference features motivational
speakers and more than 100 workshops. PRIDE Youth Programs is a youth organization
dedicated to teaching young people to lead healthy, productive lives.